Hi. This is my first post here. I stumbled upon the forum while researching SI joint problems. Hoping I can get some help with this..
I went back to the gym a couple months ago after about 6 months off. I hit it pretty hard which I know is dumb for a 47 year old man. The next day I noticed some stiffness/pain in my left lower back/upper buttock area. The pain worsened somewhat over the next few weeks, to the point where I noticed I was having to make an extra effort to walk, to get my left leg moving.
I see a Chiropractor off and on for an upper back/neck problem Ive had for many years. I told him about the low back pain and after some tests he made a tentative Dx that it was my SI joint. He manipulated my sacrum, lower back, and the SI joint itself. I continued the treatment for a couple weeks but none of it really helped. In fact, the pain became notably worse.
He also gave me some stretches and exercises including a lunge-type stretch that really stretches the deep muscles on the front of the hip/pelvis. Once I started doing these regularly the pain diminished significantly. This was toward the end of last week. Unfortunately, I noticed a couple days ago that a large swath of my left thigh, from just below the hip to just above the knee, on the outside of my thigh, has become numb. This is pretty disturbing since I take it to mean something is seriously wrong and that something Im doing now is apparently making it worse.
Oddly, the pain is not so bad anymore when I walk. But there is some pretty acute pain in the SI joint area if my tailbone is depressed (I noticed this during the last manipulation and also had my wife push on it tonight to see how bad it was; it may be noteworthy that it hurts while the tailbone is being depressed and/or released, but not if it is held down steadily with pressure).
So now Im pretty confused about where to turn and what to do. It seems I should stop the stretches although they did seem to help until the numbness set in. Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do would be welcomed.
An update...
I stopped all the stretches and manipulations since last week. Unfortunately, my leg is still numb - no worse but no better either. The pain is also the same. Any thoughts on what could be causing this or what to do about it would be much appreciated!
Went to see the Chiro yesterday. He thinks the numbness isn't caused by the SI joint but is probably a pinched nerve between the L4/5 or L3/4 vertebrae. the pelvic stretches I was doing must have put some new pressure on this region. I'm not so sure tho... haven't done the stretches for 10 days and the leg is still numb.
:confused: :confused: :confused:
Hi krx,
I just wanted to welcome you to Healthypages as I see you've had no replies so far on your thread.
I'm not an expert on Back problems so I'm afraid I can't offer anything apart from my best wishes and hope that things become better for you.
We do have some members who know their "back problems" so I'm sure someone will be along soon to discuss with you.
Love and Reiki Hugs
Hi KRX,
I have exactly the same problem. Even the time scale is the same.
Here is how it proceeds in my case.
The pain got to the point that I can not stand it anymore.
Dr. prescribed oxycodone/acetaminophene pain medication and Ibuprophen for inflammation release. X-ray clear. Took MRI today. Doctor should contact me tomorrow about the results. But from I was able to figure out by myself it is prolapsed disk in lower portion of the back. Currently I am laying whole day in bed and taking pain medication every 6 h. Otherwise it is unbearable.
Did the MRI show anything significant?
A neighbor of mine told me about a friend of his who has exactly the same problem I described - starting w/pain in the low back/upper buttock, leading to numbness down the side of the thigh. He's had it for over a year. He showed me a stretch the friend uses before going for a jog. Apparently it helps quite a bit. He was told it is a SI joint problem. But no one really knows what to do for him so he just lives with it.
Not terrribly encouraging.
I went for a run yesterday for the first time since this began. The pain/numbness is no different today so apparently running doesn't exacerbate the problem.
Yes, On MRI I was able to locate prolapsed disc at L5/S1.
Doctor told me the same, and refered me to neurosurgent for july 2.
But, in my case, I can barely walk iside the house, I do not even think to jog.
So I think my case is much worse. My recomendatio to you is - try to do everything gently, do not jog, do not try to overcome the pain.
Let is heal on its own even if it can take some time.
I tryed to move and do exersize against the pine, but at the end I have reachd the point of laying in bad and not able to walk at all. After 6 days in bad I can walk a short distances - hope I am on a road to recavery, I'll try to avoid surgery.
One problem with MRI is that in 50% it will show prolapsed disk even though in reality it is not neseseraly the disc that causing the problem.
Try to eat FRESH pineaple - it has a lot of antiinflamatroy stuff. I think it helps me.
I had a similar problem at the start of the year and ended up relying on a walking stick to get around for over 3 months. The difficulty is the often contradictory nature of the advice from doctors / physios. Especially when it comes to working through the pain versus resting. I also had the numbness, in my case it was centered in tibialis anterior progressing down into my foot.
I ultimately found that a steady progression in terms of walking a little further each day was the best answer. I think pushing but not to the point of extreme discomfort worked best for me